Dual Credit Classes: Secondary Education

Before being put into effect any proposal to develop dual credit classes, that is high school credit simultaneous to Illinois Tech academic credit, an interested party shall provide the required information (dual credit contact at the high school, instructor names and credentials, class designations at both the high school and Illinois Tech, high school address and zone) as well as anticipated start dates to both the VPAA and the ALO to manage compliance.

All dual credit instructors will be screened for proper credentials. This must be done in a process compatible with our normal required faculty credential review (i.e. in hiring). The high school dual credit contact will be responsible for identifying and providing recommended instructors, as well as providing the necessary credentials. The internal review will be administered out of the provost office, though the VPAA.

Separately we will implement an orientation package and deliver it to any new instructors and the dual credit contact our dual credit policies, as well as relevant Illinois Tech instructional policies and workflow (e.g. grading, academic honesty, student interactions including Title IX etc). This could be done by an orientation seminar or meeting, supplemented by verified delivery of policy documents, and delivered in a fashion compatible with the normal faculty / TA orientation process.

The high school dual credit contact will be primarily responsible for ensuring students “demonstrate readiness for college-level work (point E below), as determined by placement procedures consistent with those that would be used with college-level students”, in consultation with Academic Affairs who will communicate this policy and any such placement procedures in the orientation seminars. The registrar’s office in communication with Academic Affairs will ensure that “placement tests or course prerequisites'' are satisfied as part of our normal course registration prerequisite process, addressing point E (below).

The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) Dual Credit Authorization Process

IBHE dual credit compliance form requires us to certify several things:

Confirmation that dual credit has not been offered without prior approval. Thus for any course proposed for dual credit, it must be entered into CIM to confirm that Illinois Tech approvals are completed before offered.
The instructors for these courses are selected, assigned and evaluated by the university. The instructors are selected from individuals with appropriate credentials as required by IBHE, and demonstrated teaching competencies at the college level. For instance, for courses that carry college credit, these qualifications currently include a minimum of a Master's degree or 18 graduate hours in the academic field or discipline in which they are teaching.
The institution provides high school instructors with an orientation in course curriculum, assessment methods, and administrative requirements before high school instructors are permitted to teach dual credit courses. This is similar to orientation(s) for new faculty and TA’s and this may serve this purpose if properly provisioned to directly address the needs of fulfilling the dual credit policy of IBHE.
Students demonstrate readiness for college-level work, as determined by placement procedures consistent with those that would be used with college-level students at the offering institution of higher education.
High school students enrolling in college-level courses satisfy course placement tests or course prerequisites established and administered by the college or university, when applicable, to ensure that they have the same qualifications and preparation as other college students.
Furthermore, we are required to identify for every high school a “dual credit contact” (in addition to specific class instructors), as well as providing other information such as a signed agreement with the high schools, instructors and class information and other simple information (i.e. their address and IBHE zone).